Please help - DBI mysql

[Chux Amobi]

Any help with the following problem is appreciated:

I've set up a mysql dbase,  "~/usr/local/var/dbclients" , on my virtual www
hosted account.

Why could the following simple test script return the error:
Can't connect to local MySQL server ...     ?

#/usr/bin/perl5
use DBI;
use DBD::mysql;
DBI->connect( "DBI:mysql:dbclients" , "root" , "password" );

Could the problem be the way the hosting company configured mysql, DBI, or
DBD?

Chux
glc@stripped